DNA links Harmon and Wood

It has been almost 24 years since the grizzly murder of Lafayette resident Christine Wood. She was found dead in her apartment strangled and shot three times in the head and the case largely went cold. That is until 2006 when DNA played a crucial role in finding new leads.

Thursday was the third day of the Daniel Harmon murder trial and an expert from the Acadiana Crime Lab gave testimony linking Harmon and Christine Wood through DNA.

Wood was found dead in her Marginy Circle apartment in 1989 and the case went cold until 2006 when forensic expert says the DNA match was discovered.

According to Booker, DNA was found in multiple areas of wood's body that matched the DNA profile of Harmon.

She says the results are conclusive and statistically:

“You would run out of people in the world before you'd find his profile in another person.”

Harmon was indicted in 2006, because Booker says DNA samples from Wood's body were discovered in a national database of DNA called the Combined DNA Index System or CODUS and Harmon was a match.

Alfred Boustany, Harmon's lawyer, then asked booker if you could nail down the time, place or circumstance based on the bodily fluid.

Booker says you cannot. There is still the question of whether or not the sexual intercourse between Harmon and Wood was consensual.

Evidence presented Wednesday from the state included a video interview between Harmon and the Lafayette Sheriff's Office from March 2006 where Harmon denied knowing Wood or even knowing about her death that occurred next door.

He says: “No, I never heard of anything like that.”

And says on that July night in 1989 he may have seen the fire department present and saw charred aftermath of Wood's side of her building.